WWE Raw Recap: September 3, 2018

LIVE! Shawn Michaels returns to RAW, and the Bella twins are in action for the first time in years!

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WWE Raw Recap: September 3, 2018

S26 episode 36 Aired on September 3, 2018

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Hours after being hauled away in police custody, The Shield were incapacitated at the hands of Braun Strowman, new Raw Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre and a multitude of malicious Superstars. Can The Hounds of Justice rebound from this savagery?

Ever since the Superstar Shake-up, it’s seemed like Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre’s ascent to the top of the Tag Team division was only a matter of time. That time has come: After helping get The Shield arrested (thus taking a potential Seth Rollins-Ziggler Intercontinental Title rematch off the table), The Showoff and the Scotsman strong-armed their way into a Raw Tag Team Title bout with The B-Team by taking out previously-announced challengers The Revival. Despite a strong effort from the champions, Ziggler & McIntyre ultimately made good on the ill-gotten opportunity, walking out of Ohio as Raw Tag Team Champions.

That victory ends a remarkable Cinderella story for Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, but The B-Team didn’t shy away from the challenge despite a total lack of preparation for their opponents; they took down the mighty McIntyre at one point, opening Ziggler up to isolation. Axel found himself stranded, however, after The Scottish Psychopath stormed the ring and took Dallas out by fastballing him into the turnbuckle. A superkick cleaned Axel’s clock, and the Claymore-Zig Zag twofer shut the lights. New champs. Cue the bagpipes.

Asked to give his prediction on the last-time-ever clash between Triple H and The Undertaker at WWE Super Show-Down, Shawn Michaels didn’t hesitate to declare that The Deadman was in over his head and The Game simply had more left in the tank than the legendary Superstar who forced HBK into retirement. Turns out someone was listening.

With the unmistakable toll of the gong and darkening of the arena, The Deadman made his always-ominous entrance to remind Michaels that he’d taken the best both he and The King of Kings had to offer, ultimately surmising that HBK was still bitter over that career-ending defeat in 2010.

Michaels replied that he had honored his vow to remain retired out of respect to the system, the audience and Undertaker himself, despite the constant chants of “One More Match.” Undertaker fired back that maybe Michaels was afraid because he knew if he had come out of retirement, The Deadman would put him down again — the exact fate, he claimed, that awaits Triple H at Super Show-Down.

Coming into Raw, it seemed possible that Braun Strowman could only be slowed down, not stopped. Coming out of it, it’s looking more and more like a certainty. Not only did The Monster Among Men hold off an all-world effort from Finn Bálor, he and his “pack” made short work of The Shield after they posted bail and were released from police custody on their own recognizance ... albeit with a little help from some friends.

Bálor had been slotted into the match with Strowman after Acting General Manager Baron Corbin backed out of a challenge from Finn earlier in the night (Corbin cited his GM duties), but the former Universal Champion seized the main-event spotlight all the same, wearing down The Monster Among Men with an array of submissions. Strowman rallied to defeat Finn with a Running Powerslam, at which point the pack began to circle for another three-on-one mauling.

Enter The Shield, who rolled into the arena in a commandeered police van and made a beeline for their assembled foes. However, before The Hounds of Justice could make a move, a contingent of Superstars led by Kevin Owens — Elias, AOP, The Ascension, Jinder Mahal, Mojo Rawley, Drew Gulak, Sunil Singh and Mike Kanellis — bum-rushed them from behind, kicking off a numbers game attack that The Shield were powerless to stop. While Ziggler helped dispose of Seth Rollins by ramming the van door into his face and McIntyre Claymored Dean Ambrose on the ramp, Strowman downed Roman Reigns by clobbering him with the steel steps and driving him into the ground with a Running Powerslam. (The Shield would ultimately refuse medical attention.) With The Hounds of Justice in ruins, The Monster Among Men ended the show standing tall with Ziggler & McIntyre for the second straight week.

It used to be the only thing that could destroy The Shield was The Shield itself. Clearly, that’s no longer the case.